The header picture once again has nothing to do with the topic. This is a picture taken at low tide from the Haslar Marina Pier Wall. The rails and blocks you can see are the remains of the old chain ferries. It’s just an interesting picture.
We had a day in London today. We drove up to Croydon, taking a brief diversion to visit a sister-in-law. By the time we arrived in South London, we had 36% and 60 miles on the battery. Not enough to get home. That’s OK, we’ll plug in and see what we’ve got when we are ready to leave.
When we were ready to leave, we had 60% and 104 on the battery. Now, this might be enough to get us how just – but I’m not comfortable with the “just”. We used Zap-Maps to find a charging station nearby that looks OK, if only we can find it. Actually, finding it wasn’t a problem at all. A BP garage, only a couple of hundred yards off our route had a bank of four charging points. All four points were occupied as we approached but then a car pulled out – perfect timing.
Hooking up to the charger, paying and starting were both very simple. The charging worked fine. After only a very few minutes, we had more than enough to get home, so we were able to comfortably set off.
This is where the moan starts. As we were driving through even the outskirts of london, the satnav was showings us the number of charging points nearby. There were quite a few. It is very easy to gain the impression that the EV charging infrastructure in London is being very well looked after. Can the same be said of the rest of the country?
Recent reports indicate that there are a significant number of EV charging Points across the country that are out of service for one reason or another. Apparently, the figure is sufficient to act as a deterrent against buying an electric vehicle. Using ZapMaps and cat sites we have visited, we have encountered unserviceable EVCP’s. Really, for a CP to be out of service for any length of time (let’s say, more than 4 hours – my criteria) is really unacceptable. It’s all very well installing lots of points, but it’s no good if they aren’t being maintained.
It might get to the point where I would say that the government must be prepared to impose requirements for maintenance and ensure that standards are defined and maintained.
There, that’s what I think.
Bills Posts 